Language Development for Dual Language Learners

We’ve been a dual language, Spanish learning, family for six years now! It’s been quite an exciting and challenging few years. I’ve been a teacher of students learning English even longer! Learning a language, even a first language, takes years. Children hear their native language usually from the moment they are born. However, its very common for children not to have many words by 18 months. Even by two years old, most children speak in short phrases of 2 – 3 words and have a limited vocabulary. Language really explodes in that second year of life. Yet, even by three years old, children are still learning more vocabulary and the grammar of their native language.

Language Development

Children need to listen to language before they are able to use the language themselves. Just like babies hear their parents speak, children learning a new language need to hear native speakers of that language. Listening to the language, even if they don’t understand anything just yet, is the beginning steps of language learning.

Children need about 18 months before they begin to use some words in their native language, so expect the first year in a dual language classroom to be mostly listening. Research even shows that many times children go through a silent period when first learning a new language. This is where they may not speak in their native language or the language they are using.

Silent Period

A silent period is a time when children listen and observe much more than they speak. In fact, they may not even talk at all. This is considered normal behavior for children learning a new language. Children can still be encouraged to participate in classroom activities. They can interact with others using gestures, physical movement, art or other creative avenues. Some students will even use one word answers or short phrases in the target language.

The silent period may last only a few days but can last up to a full year. So, don’t worry if your child isn’t speaking the target (new) language by the end of the first year in the program. Many children tend to emerge from the silent period after the first 6 weeks or so, but this may be to only use a word or two answers. Brown University offers some guidance for working with children during this time.

If you think about babies, this makes a lot of sense. Our youngest learners spend the first year of their life listening to the language around them. Babies understand much more language than they use. Many babies even learn some simple signs to communicate their wants and needs before they can speak the words. My own children often signed milk and more long before they could use the words themselves.

Speaking the Language

Most experts agree that it takes 2 – 5 years to develop oral proficiency. This is speaking and listening to the language using more common vocabulary. These skills develop much faster than the academic language proficiency, which includes reading and writing in the target language.

Just as our young children begin to use their native language, students learning a new language may begin with just one or two word utterances mostly to express their needs and wants. They may ask for the bathroom, help, or water by saying just the main noun or verb in the sentence. With time, the amount of language used in the target language will increase. They will begin to answer in simple phrases of three or four words to complete sentences.

Even when children begin speaking in complete sentences, the sentences may not make sense to native speakers. It takes time to learn the grammar and syntax of the target language. So just like our toddlers saying “Me want…” or “Cookie, give me,” or students will make mistakes in their target language. They will need to spend time listening to their target language to begin to learn the correct grammar and order of the words in a sentence. This usually takes a learn between 3 and 5 years to become proficient (and this research is for students learning English which is the dominant language in their community).

For our students learning a non-dominant community language it may take even longer for them to develop oral proficiency.

When Will My Child Develop Oral Proficiency?

What does this mean in terms of grade? Well, if your child begins dual language in Kindergarten, expect that year to be listening to the language with limited talking. If your children uses the language sparingly by the end of the year, count that as a win! The next two to four years, which would be second to fourth grade, is where you could expect your child to develop the oral proficiency of speaking the language.

Even though they can speak in the language, they still may shy away from speaking in front of the whole class. A better way to understand if your child has developed oral proficiency is to listen in when they work with a partner, a small group, or have a play date with a friend. You could even have them speak with a native speaker who they feel comfortable around.

Academic Language

Most experts, including those from Stanford University, agree that students need four to seven years (with many stating 5 – 7 years) to develop academic proficiency in the target language. Academic proficiency is reading, writing, and using the academic vocabulary of their classes in the target language.

Just like with our young children learning their native language, this makes a lot of sense. Children begin learning to read in Kindergarten (and some don’t really read until first grade) in their native language. For most children, this is listening to their native language for five to six years before they are expected to learn academic vocabulary, read and write in it. Our dual language learners are learning to read and write during their first year even hearing the target language.

Academic language may include reading and writing, but it also includes other skills as well. Students need to learn the content area vocabulary of the target language which changes every year. They also need to learn the high-frequency words of mature language users. These are not the same as high-frequency words taught in the elementary grades. Instead these are many of the words used in the classroom that are not specific to the topic taught. These include words such as evaluate, observe, obvious, complex, reason, and many many more.

Dual Learners will also need to learn the propositions and transition words of the language. In addition, students need to learn the nuisances of the language as well. These can include the accent inflections, idioms, multiple meaning words and even false cognates.

When Will My Child Develop Academic Proficiency?

What does this mean in terms of grades? Well, five to seven years from kindergarten is fourth to sixth grade. Again, this research was conducted for students learning English in the United States, so for children learning the non-dominant language, this might actually take longer. So you may find that your child begins to make rapid gains in their reading or writing in the intermediate grades or at the very start of middle school. It may mean that while your child can read and write in their target language, they are working at a lower level than their native language. This is completely normal and to be expected!

Children who take longer to develop their oral proficiency would most likely take longer to develop their academic proficiency as well. This is my teacher instinct, I can’t actually find any research to support this though.

Final Thoughts

As a parent of a child in a dual language program, please do not worry if your child makes more gains in their native language than their target language in the elementary years. It may take dual language learners until the middle grades before they develop the academic proficiency in their target language. Most research shows that children will develop the academic language with time.

If your child is reading at a lower reading level, take a breath and remind yourself that you are giving your child the gift of a second language. Even if they don’t become proficient in the language right now, they will be much better off later because of this opportunity. We need to allow our children grace to make mistakes, learn from their mistakes and encourage them to be brave in trying out their new language. And the more opportunities that we can provide our children to hear the target language, the better.

If you are looking for some activities to assist your dual language learner with their target language, please check out our Dual Language posts.

Leave us a comment and let us know about your experience with teaching your child another language or about your experiences in a dual language program at school.

Hi, I’m Nicole.

Here at Creatingbutterflies we provide families with practical solutions to real life problems for everything parenting, scouting, dual language, and enjoying time outdoors. We are a family of 6 with 4 wonderful becoming bilingual children who loves scouting, camping, and hiking with their family. Mom is an educator and dad is a firefighter/paramedic.